IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

December 6, 2009 Kyle Busch wins the 42nd Annual Snowball Derby Kyle Busch thrives in the limelight whether it’s cheers or boos and on Sunday night drews mostly cheers and he won the 42nd annual Snowball Derby in front of a sellout crowd at Five Flags Speedway. The current NASCAR Sprint Cup star dominated this season, winning the Nationwide and Truck series. He had a disappointing Sprint Cup season, winning just four races and finishing out of the Cup Chase. That allowed him to come to Pensacola for the Snowball Derby and he led three times for 99 laps, including the final 25. “Winning the Snowball Derby means so much to me,” he said in Victory Lane. “What a race car I had. I was nervous the last 10 laps.” Busch pulled away after passing 2005 Snowball Derby winner Eddie Mercer of Pensacola on Lap 276. Mercer took second, while 2004 winner Steven Wallace was third. Bobby Gill was fourth and John Bolen fifth. Polesitter Johanna Long finished 18th, two laps down, while Augie Grill’s bid to become the first driver to win consecutive Snowballs ended with a wreck and he finished 31st. Busch started third and edged Long to take the lead on the opening lap. Grill, starting in fourth, passed Busch for the lead on Lap 29. On Lap 59, two cars in front of Grill spun and Grill ran into the back of one of them, but didn’t do much damage. He gave up the lead on Lap 96 when he came into the pits for fresh tires. Casey Smith, who had pitted earlier, took the point for 67 laps. Grill, however, restarted in 26th and was hit by Justin Drawdy as he was trying to work his way to the front. The damage slowed him down considerably and he parked the car shortly after that. Mercer took over the lead on Lap 163 when Smith and other leaders went into the pits for fresh tires. Eighteen laps later, Mercer became the all-time Snowball Derby lap later, passing Bobby Gill, who has 694. Mercer now has led 744 laps. The frustration continued for Smith, who began to back up shortly after pitting for fresh tires. His pit crew put the right-side tires on the left side and he later suffered damage to his car. Busch passed Mercer for the lead on Lap 208. Mercer, who later pitted, worked his way back to the front and regained the lead on Lap 246 when Busch and the other leaders pitted for their final set of tires. Mercer held it through three more cautions but Busch cleared some lap cars and went low in Turn 1 to take the lead for good on Lap 276. There were 14 cautions in the race for 108 laps. Kyle Busch, 300 laps Eddie Mercer, 300 Steven Wallace, 300 Bobby Gill, 300 John Bolen, 300 Grant Enfinger, 300 Chase Elliott, 300 Wayne Niedecken Jr., 300 Ryan Lawler, 300 Ryan Sieg, 300 Scott Carlson, 300 Ross Kenseth, 300 Scott Hantz, 300 Dennis Prunty, 299 Dennis Schoenfeld, 299 Brian Scott, 298 Randy Gentry, 298 Johanna Long, 298 Gary Helton, 296 Danny Bagwell, 294 Stephan McCurley, 293 Casey Smith, 291 David Rogers, 280 Justin Drawdy, 260 Brian Ickler, 252 Shane Sieg, 219 David Stremme, 206 Cale Gale, 204 Josh Hamner, 192 Tyler Millwood, 169 Augie Grill, 142 Brian Campbell, 137 Hunter Robbins, 100 Bubba Pollard, 100 Heath Hindman, 67 Jeff Choquette, 64 Cecil Chunn, 2 Lap leaders: Busch 1-28; Grill 29-95; Smith 96-162; Mercer 163-207; Busch 208-245; Mercer 246-275; Busch 276-300; 7 lead changes among 4 drivers. Margin of victory: 2.778 seconds; Average speed: 62.071 mph.Cautions: 14 for 106 laps. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!